Self-cleaning clothesline cleaner



July 29, 1952 A. MoTTELsoN 2,604,650

SELF-CLEANING CLOTHESLINE CLEANER Filed oct. 1o, 1949 ANITA MOTTE LSON :inventor l therefore the lPatented July 29, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT e OFFICE f VSELF:cLEArurrcgoLo'rHpsLnn: CLEANER j Seattle, Wash. A I l 'nppuatien october 10, 194e; serial No. 120,5094

This present Yinvention provides an elongated housing which is slotted on one side for the in clusion of a fibrous 'cleaning material, and rhas sciaims; (o1. -21o) v as its principal use the cleaning of lines such as clothes lines. Io achieveits functiomthe clothes line is introducedv betweenthe folded fibrous material in the slot of the housing and,1as the housing is moved along lthe line. the' line is cleaned and the brous material is gradually carriedout of the housing. Normally, the material carried out is the part that-has become soiled from use,

device may be considered as selfcleaning. y

Y In the past `inany devices have-been provided for the cleaning of clothes lines. Those observed,

- however, have all been characterized by constructions, whichvnormally make them expensive to manufacture and, inmany cases, the proper use of these devices requiresfconsiderable'skill on the part of the user, more thancan reasonably be expected of a busy housewife, to whom the clothes line cleaner is merely a substitute for a cloth. In this present invention it is believed that many of the shortcomings of the devices used for this work, in the past, have been eliminated and thatr a cheap, simple, and useful cleaner is thus provided.

The principal object of this present invention, therefore, is to provide a clothes line cleaner that is characterized byextreme simplicity of construction, to the end that it lcan be made cheaply and can, therefore; be conveniently replacedv when damagedor soiled.- I 1 1 A further object of'this' inventioni's'- to provide a clothes `line cleaner having an elongated housing which is s lottedffto'receive a folded, fibrous or felt-like material'for'the engagement of the clothes line. V f V A further object of this invention is to provide thaty the housing be slotted with a slot that is tapering longitudinally of the slot, so that the same can be easily slippedv over the line at the beginning of thevcleanin'g operation.l

A further object of this invention. is to provide a longitudinal slot in anv elongated housing, so formed as to accept, and secure in place, a piece of folded, fibrous material. t

Further-objects, advantages and capabilities will be apparent from the description and disclosure in the drawings, or maybe comprehended or are inherent in the device.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the manner of using the clothes line cleaner which is the subject matter of this invention;

housing of the clothes line cleaner.

manner 'in which the cleaner is applied to the clothes line at the beginning of the cleaning y operation; Y Y

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of this clothes line cleaner showing the tapering of the. longitudinal slot-therein Figure`4 is an end' View of the clothes line cleaner as applied'to a clothes line which is, in turn, shown in section.

Referring more particularly to the disclosure in the drawings, the numeral I0 designates the In its simplest form the housing may be made from round Wood stock, although it kis .believed that it will be'readily apparent that many types of material might be used, such as the various moldable ma- `terials, lor the general form could easily be made from sheet metal. It is further believed that it will loe-apparent that the round form is not essential, it merely ,being desirable that sufficient `body be provided so that an easy hand-grip will be obtained.A

Extending longitudinally of housing I is an open slot I2. This slot has for its purpose, the holding in place of folded fibrous sheet stock, indicated at I4. The depth to which slot I2 is formed Within housing I0 should be suflicient so that, when the device is in use, as in applicants showing in Figure 1, the clothes line IB' will be substantially in the center of the housing.. This will normally mean that the slotmust .be formed to a depth equal to the distance to the center of the housing, plus the thickness o-f the sheet vmaterial I Il.

v In order that the fibrous sheet material It will be adequately gripped, it has been found desirable to form the walls of the slotconcave, after the showing of Figure 4, in whichit will be noted that the concavity of walls I8 and 20 is suiiicient to give considerable compression to the nbrous material at the opening 22 of slot I2. When so formed, it has been found that the lining material can be made of felted sheet material.- which can be forced into position and then will be gripped by the slot.l This is a very desirable feature of the construction in that itis not necessary to glue this felt material' in place, therefore it is veryconvenient to replace the same when it has becomeworn in use orl soiled beyond the limits of practical use.

Referring particularly to the showing in Figure 3, it will be noted that the tWo walls, as I8 and 20 of slot I2, taper considerably longitudinally of the device. This form has proved to have a marked advantage in this construction when the device is placed in use. Referring to Figure 2, it will be noted that the clothes line enters into the end of slot I2, in which the side walls are most widely spaced. This permits of a relatively easy entering, and then continued movement to the right as viewed in Figure 2, making it relatively simple to slide the cleaner onto the exposed line I6, so Vthat the clothes line will come throughout the 4length of the cleaner, well into the center of the same, after the showing of Figure 4.

Now in use it has been found bestto start with the cleaner at one end of the lineand, after it has been fully seated on the clothes line,-to ,work up to the other end of the line, usually with a repeated back and forth movement, but as the general trend of the movement is towards the' right hand end of the line, as viewed in Figure Y 2, there is a tendency to more fully seat the flbrous material in the tapered slot, It follows that a clothes line cleaner of this order is only used on a clothes line which requires cleaning, therefore considerable dirt and other soil is removed from the line that normally would irnpregnate the cleaning pads. Howevenrif a fibrous material is used for the cleaning pad, as the cleaner is moved along the line, small amounts of the fibrous material will be pulled out of the housing by the friction or drag of the clothes line, and naturally this material removed will be that Ywhich has come most intimately in contact with he clothes line. Therefore, it has been found that an 'effective means is provided for the removal of the soil, consequently this device can vbe properly referred to as a self-cleaning clothes line cleaner. It follows, then, further, that if the fibrous material is going to be gradually Worn away, then convenient Vmeans must be provided for the replacement of the same, and it is believed that a study of the drawings and the foregoing description indicates clearly how simply these old, partially used-up cleaning pads can be removed from the housing and a new ,pad inserted.

While this device -has been lreferred to asV a clothes line cleaner, it will be understood; it is believed, that if the cleaning pad is impregnated with any solution, as a preservative compound, or a lubricant, the deviceU will become a very effective device for distributing suchA liquids or preservative material throughout the line. -This is particularly true in view of the ease with which a cleaning or treating pad may be removed after such treatment and a new pad inserted. Y ,Y

It is believedrthat it will be clearly apparen from the above description and the disclosure in the drawingsthat the Vinvention comprehends a novel construction/of a self-cleaning clothes line cleaner. i

Having thus disclosed the invention, I claim:

1. A clothes line cleaner, comprising: an elongated housing Ahaving a longitudinal radial slot extending from end to end, said slot being open at its ends and being tapered longitudinally; an oblong insert of pliant material folded longitudinally and lpositioned in saidV slot with the free edges outward,`said insert being flakable sothat soiled material will be removed by action of the clothes line as the cleaner isiused; the Vside sur- 4 facesof said slot being slightly concave and opposed side surfaces being spaced apart a shorter distance at the mouth of said slot than inside of said mouth thereby forming a restricted opening at said mouth to secure said insert in place, and the depth and width of said slot being such as to accommodate said insert removably, and to Apermit easy manual insertion and vwithdrawal of a clothes line Ybetweenwthe,folds of said insert 'to the centerl of said housing.

2. Aclothes line cleaner, comprising: an elongated housing having a radial slot extending from end to end, said slot being open at its ends 'andibeing tapered longitudinally; an oblong removable insert of pliant cleansing material foldedelongitudinally and positioned in said slot with the free edges outward, y`said insert being akable soV that soiled material will be removed by action oftheclothes line as the cleaner is used; the side surfaces of said slot being slightly concave and opposed side surfaces being spaced apart a Ashorter distance at the mouth of said slot than inside ofz Asaidinouth `thereby forming a restricted openingv at said mouth to secure said insertin place, .and the depthand width of said slot being-such fastoaccommodate said insert Vremovably.iSlFif/d freuenedgesjofrsaid insert being compressed against veach other, by the walls of said` slot, Yand to permit easyrnanual insertion and withdrawal of a clothes line betweenthe folds yof said insert to the center of said housing by startingthe insertion Yor withdrawal of the clothes line at the wider end of said slot.

v3. Aclothes line cleaner, comprising: an elongated housing which substantially circular in transverse cross-section,-said housing having a radial slot extending from end to end, said slot being open atits ends and being tapered longitudinal-ly; an oblongy removable insert of lakable pliant cleansing Ymaterial folded longitudinally and positioned in said slot with the free edges outward, said insert being of a size to substantially fill said slot, said insert being positioned with the insideof the fold approximately at the center of said housing, Vsaid f ree edges of said insert being compressed against veach other; the side surfaces of said slot being slightlyconcave land, opDOSed side surfaces being spaced apart a shorter distance atjthe mouth of said slotrthan inside of said mouth thereby forming a restricted opening at-said mouth tozsecure said insert in place,4 andthe depth and width of said A,slot being such as to accommodate said insertrernovably, andto permit easymanualjnsertion and withdrawal of aclothes line between thevfolds of said insert 119. the, centerlef `seid.:housing by starting the Vinsertion or withdrawal Yof thel clothes line at the wider end -of said slot.

' f ANITA MoTTELsoN. .,iIiE'FERENCS CITED.- The following references-'are of record in the file. of this patentzjA 

